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Following a meeting with the trust’s executive medical director Dr Shahid Wahid on Monday, Ms Simpson said she was left with “a lot of unanswered questions”.

The 42-year-old said: “I feel angry because they are sitting there not really telling me what happened.

“They said he was stored with dignity but how can they say that when half of him was in a bucket? They have no idea what the families are going through.”

Sarah Simpson from Blakelaw and her father Terry Simpson who died 22 years ago

In a statement, the trust said it fully acknowledged “a failure to appropriately follow national guidance on the disposal of tissue samples issued by the Human Tissue Authority”.

Dr Wahid said: “On behalf of the trust I would like to express our sincere apologies to the families who have been affected and for the distress and angst which has undoubtedly been caused.

“We have worked closely with colleagues at Northumbria and Cleveland Police, local coroners and the Human Tissue Authority throughout and have welcomed their guidance and support to conclude this investigation as sensitively as possible for all concerned.

South Tyneside District Hospital (Image: Newcastle Chronicle)

“There is now a recognised collective responsibility amongst all organisations to deal effectively with human tissue samples which unfortunately was not in place at the time of these events many years ago.

“Our review has resulted in some very clear learning and I would like to firmly reassure people that we have taken all the necessary steps to review and refresh our systems and processes to prevent anything like this happening again.”